The Final, Final Tune-Ups

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It’s Thursday, July 13. Give us four minutes, we give you everything World Cup.

“When you play for the United States Women’s National Team. You are handed a torch. You are given the responsibility to carry that torch as far and as high as possible, for the sake of women’s equality.”

• US World Cup veteran Christen Press spoke to a crowd in Los Angeles last evening after accepting this year’s Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, awarded annually by ESPN to individuals “whose impact transcends sport”

I. The Final, Final Tune-ups

The past few weeks featured a cascading set of exciting friendlies located across the world, as 32 World Cup teams prepped and refreshed before arriving Down Under.

We’ve documented those global tests here at The Women’s Game, through stunning upsets as Zambia beat Germany, behind-the-scenes turmoil as South Africa reportedly boycotted a match with Botswana, and an ascendant French side coming in hot against still-sturdy Ireland.

With just one week to go before things begin, a few teams have organized their final, final tune-up on Aussie and Kiwi soil this weekend.

A few to look out for:

Vietnam 🇻🇳 vs Spain 🇪🇸 (Thursday, 830 PM ET)

On what is midday Friday in Auckland (this tournament will make timezone mathematicians of us all), the USA’s first opponent of the tournament (Vietnam 🇻🇳) meets among the World Cup’s strongest contenders (Spain 🇪🇸). And while other trophy hopefuls stumbled unconvincingly through their tune-ups, Spain comes in strong after defeating both Panama and Denmark with relative ease. The show goes down in Auckland, where the US are now in camp. One imagines US manager Vlatko Andonovski will send a few scouts, if possible, as Vietnam’s starting XI might look familiar next Friday night when they face the US.

England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 vs Canada 🇨🇦 (July 14th local time, behind closed doors)

Despite a two game goal-drought and a tepid draw against Portugal to send them off, England’s Lionesses remain strong favorites to do well this year. Their final test will be a useful one, and one we might see go down for real (but with higher stakes) in just a few short weeks. Should England place first in their group, they could meet Canada next in the knockouts if the Canadians place second behind Australia, or perhaps either Ireland or Nigeria. Either way, the pair will be grateful for the tough tune-up behind closed doors, as the reigning Olympic champions meet the champions of Europe on the Sunshine Coast.

Australia 🇦🇺 vs France 🇫🇷 (Friday, 530 AM ET)

Australia’s Matildas prepare for the dubbed ‘group of death’ with as tough a test they can ask for. An in form and formidable France meets the tournament co-hosts tomorrow following a 3-0 defeat of Ireland in Dublin, a victory which featured all the promise of Les Bleues’ dynamic attack. But Australia’s sound defending and lethal counter will prove a challenge for a French side meeting a challenging group of their own. The match is set to go down in Melbourne, before a sold-out crowd of at least 50,000.

The Rest of the Pack

Elsewhere, Ireland 🇮🇪 prepare for the group of death with a match against Colombia 🇨🇴 from Group H. Co-hosts New Zealand 🇳🇿 look to build on their recent win over Vietnam 🇻🇳 with a match against Italy 🇮🇹, who vie for victory in Group G. Japan 🇯🇵 test for their ninth World Cup playing CONCACAF debutantes, Panama 🇵🇦. Argentina 🇦🇷 tunes-up for Group G with Peru 🇵🇪, who won’t appear in the World Cup this year. Costa Rica 🇨🇷 has a test with South Africa 🇿🇦, and on Sunday the final tests go down between Jamaica 🇯🇲 and Morocco 🇲🇦, followed by China and Colombia.

II. USWNT Honored with Arthur Ashe Award

The US Women’s National Team were awarded the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage last evening in Los Angeles at the annual ESPY Awards. The award was given to the US squad to acknowledge their fight for equal pay.

Injured veterans Christen Press and The Men in Blazers Media Network’s Sam Mewis were joined by 1999 legend and Hall of Famer, Briana Scurry, to speak on behalf of the team before the crowd of athletes.

“This has been a long, long journey,” Scurry told the crowd, adding that 252 women had worn the US badge in their history, saying the award was being accepted for each one, a group she called “a community of giants.”

III. Group D Preview

i. England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Few teams entered 2023 with as much hype surrounding their World Cup chances as England’s Lionesses. And few teams have succumbed to more frustration from injury woes. From manager Sarina Wiegman’s 2022 Euro Championship winning starting XI (an eleven she never strayed from throughout their victorious campaign) three are ruled out due to injury (Beth Mead/Arsenal, Leah Williamson/Arsenal, Fran Kirby/Chelsea), and one has retired in Ellen White. Despite that, England’s depth of talent remains among the deepest in the game. Gamechangers from the Euros in Ella Toone (Manchester United) and Chloe Kelly (Manchester City) are likely to slot in as starters, and emerging international talents like Lauren James (Chelsea) look to finally make their mark. Their path won’t be a simple one, but with Weigman at the helm, England are among the best prepared tactically and gifted technically in the field. They’ll build carefully through possession, while forcing errors with the press. England feel near certain to escape first in this group, only question is how deep they go beyond.

ii. Haiti 🇭🇹

Haiti qualified for their first ever World Cup this year amid incredible obstacles, including the continued fallout from the devastating earthquake that shook their nation (and its football program), as well as sexual abuse allegations. With history already made, Haiti’s side of young players, many of whom now ply their trade in France, head to the World Cup as reasonable underdog contenders to escape this group. It was Melchie (nicknamed Corventina) Durmonay’s (Lyon) brace of goals against Chile that sealed their fate to enter the tournament. And it will likely be Durmonay’s creativity and goal-scoring ability that propels them forward in Australia; as she did against South Korea, setting up Nerilia Mondesir (Montpellier) with this perfectly picked pass for the goal.

iii. Denmark 🇩🇰

Denmark’s national team is one with no shortage of individual talent, but as an international side they’ve yet to leave a deep mark on the World Cup. In fact, despite this summer being their fourth all-time appearance, the UEFA competitors return after a 16 year absence from the biggest stage. Their last appearance in 2007 featured a group stage exit, and the quarterfinal is their furthest reach. They return this summer alongside their marquee name and long-time captain in the inimitable Pernille Harder (Bayern Munich), a stalwart talent at the club level who led her team to the 2017 Euro Final. Coming into the tournament off a two goal loss to Spain in their sendoff, this Denmark side may have enough talent to progress out of this group, but may not be likely to progress much further.

iv. China 🇨🇳

China has now qualified for eight World Cups, missing just one in 2011. Their strongest performance, of course, came in 1999, when a legendary US team overcame them in penalties to win the tournament on home soil. And while their international record is well-respected, they haven’t put out their strongest performances in recent friendlies. That said, this organized team with a flexible approach to matches could test opponents in the group stage. Giving the positional flexibility of England’s veteran Rachel Daly a run for its money, China’s captain Wang Shanshan (Tianjin Tengde) who once did this to Cameroon at the 2015 World Cup, can also be deployed at various ends of the pitch, including at center back and striker. Her leadership and versatility will be needed alongside the creative vision of Wang Shuang (Racing Louisville), as China’s path out of this group will be a tough one.

Check out our Group A, Group B, and Group C previews from earlier this week.

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